What's Hot: Chrome Crushing it in Colorado

When it came to choosing what to say nice things about in this installment of What’s Hot In The Shop, I almost had to toss a coin. Plain and simple, it is a really good time to own a card store. Right now, we are seeing an uptick in collector visits that shops only dream about. Between the rookie hype in MLB and the NFL, it is hard to believe that things are about to get that much better when they drop the puck next month.

Since it would be awkward to spend the next hour or so typing up more about 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects MLB, how about if we spend some time sharing thoughts on 2015 Topps Chrome MLB?

While it is probably about to be displaced by Bowman Chrome, ’15 Topps Chrome has enjoyed the benefit of all the rookies you have come to meet this summer. My store has already moved 10 cases of the jumbo version and nearly that many cases of the regular style. That number would have been higher if I had not sold out on a couple of occasions.

We hosted a jumbo case break recently and while we did not luck out with any Kris Bryant autographs, we got a few Joc Pederson autos.

Unfortunately, Topps was not able to include Kyle Schwarber but they did manage to stock the product with short-printed rookies of Noah Syndergaard, Francisco Lindor, Byron Buxton, Joey Gallo and most importantly, Carlos Correa.

So far big sale we’ve seen is this Kris Bryant red refractor /5 that moved for a cool 2 grand.

What many collectors might not appreciate about Topps Chrome are the veteran autographs. While they are not one per box or even necessarily expected per case, it is nice to know that we will not have to worry about sinking or swimming exclusively on prospects this year. There are autos of Mike Trout, Buster Posey, David Ortiz, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, John Lester, Joe Mauer, Pablo Sandoval, Robinson Cano and others sprinkled in. That, too, has kept collectors in my shop interested in continuing to break boxes.

Chrome has had some company in the new release department and here’s the rest of the current Hot List:

1) 2015 Panini Immaculate MLB – Here’s a high-end release that collectors are coming back for again and again. My restock price is basically the original SRP and it makes me hope that Panini has a load more $200+ MLB products secretly waiting to spring upon us this year. The lack of logos is not hurting this product.

2) 2015 Panini Certified NFL – An annual solid seller got a boost from randomly inserted hot boxes with 10 hits.

3) 2015 Topps NFL – Sure it’s basic, but it’s an annual tradition that goes back before I was even born. With the season kicking off this week, I suspect momentum will continue.

4) 2015 Bowman Chrome MLB – Are you finally tired of me ranting about the MLB rookies like I did in 2012 with the NFL? If not, then you would understand why this brother of Topps Chrome is flying off my shelves.

5) 2015/16 O-Pee-Chee NHL – See #3 Topps NFL and help me understand why a release with no impact rookies, hard to find autographs and relic cards is selling as well as it is.

Mike Fruitman owns Mike’s Stadium Sportscards in Aurora, CO. Normally, his column focuses on what products are selling best in hobby shops. He’s got thousands of cards for sale on COMC.com under the ID cardmn5150. Enjoy new arrivals and big hits from Mike’s on Twitter. Mike’s is always looking for more friends on Facebook and you can email him at [email protected].